Play-offs decided in Hungary

The final standings in each of the four pools were decided on the third day of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Europe Zone Group III action.

With the teams finishing on top of the groups already decided after the first two days, Day 3 was more focussed on teams attempting to avoid the relegation play-offs.

The closest tie was in Pool A between Armenia and Liechtenstein. Going into today’s tie, Armenia were ahead of Liechtenstein in the group by virtue of games won, leaving Liechtenstein needing a win to avoid the relegation play-offs.

The tie started well for Liechtenstein as Timo Kranz defeated Ashot Gevorgyan 61 62 in the opening rubber. This left Sedrak Khachatryan knowing he needed a win for Armenia to send the tie into the deciding doubles. Things started badly as he lost the opening set to Vital Leuch, but he fought back, taking the remaining sets 62 to record a 46 62 62 victory.

In the doubles, all four singles players were in action as Kranz and Leuch took on Gevorgyan and Khachatryan. The pair from Liechtenstein took a close opening set 75. The Armenians fought back as the second set went to a tiebreak. It would be Kranz and Leuch who won it 8-6 to claim the 2-1 victory and second place in the pool.

Montenegro held on to second place in Pool C with a convincing 3-0 win over Iceland. Ivan Saveljic started proceedings for Montenegro with a 61 62 victory over Raj Kumar Bonifacius before Lubomir Celebic sealed victory for the Montenegrins, defeating Hinrik Helgason 61 60.

Celebic then teamed up with Pavle Rogan in the doubles as they faced Icelandic pair Helgason and Magnus Gunnarsson. Once again the Montenegrins proved too strong for their opposition, recording a 60 61 win.

Malta were in second place in Pool B going into the final day’s play as they looked to hold off Albania. Bradley Callus got Malta off to the best possible start when he defeated Genajd Shypheja 61 64.

Matthew Asciak then defeated Rei Pelushi 60 61 to ensure Malta finished in second place in the pool. Asciak teamed up with Denzil Agius against Pelushi and Shypheja in the doubles and the pair from Malta had no difficulty securing the 3-0 whitewash with a 62 61 victory.

In Pool D, Estonia, the seeded team who had suffered a shock loss to Turkey on the opening day’s play, took on San Marino hoping to avoid relegation. Things started well for Estonia as Kenneth Raisma defeated Diego Zonzini 63 62.

Vladimir Ivanov then ensured Estonia’s victory when he overcame Marco de Rossi 63 61 in the second singles rubber. In the doubles, Mikk Irdoja and Anton Pavlov were chosen for Estonia and they took on De Rossi and Domenico Vicini. The Estonians prevailed in a tight match, sealing a 63 63 win and securing second place in the pool.